MOOR-HEN,—WATER-HEN. 415 
niously arched over with the young reeds as if to conceal 
the eges, whilst others are almost carelessly exposed to 
view; and at times a pretty contrast in colour is shown 
when both “green and withered leaves have been woven 
into the structure.* Many as are the dangers to which 
the young are exposed from four-footed vermin, pike, 
and I suspect eels as well, one ceases to wonder at the 
abundance of this species, when from five to ten eges 
constitute a sitting, and when, if undisturbed, as many 
as three broods are reared in a season; occasionally, 
no doubt, two birds will lay in one nest, but on 
examining several on the same day in spring, I 
have been much struck with the variation both in 
number and size of the eggs laid, in some nests 
perhaps only four or five eggs, but those hard sat upon. 
The young in their black down, as depicted in Mr. 
Gould’s plate in his “Birds of Great Britain,” are 
most beautiful little objects, with their bright but 
evanescent tints about the head and bill, and there 
are few prettier sights in summer than a family group 
disporting themselves amongst the broad leaves of the 
white and yellow water lilies, or snatching their insect 
food from the delicate blossoms of the water ranunculus. 
Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear state that they have 
observed nestlings when only a few days old, “ running 
about upon the tops of the weeds, and picking insects 
from them,” but that a pair hatched off under a hen, by 
Mr. Youell, of Yarmouth, took their food “trom the bill 
of their-foster mother, and it was not until they were 
several weeks old that they attempted to pick food 
from the ground.” 
* The Rev. J. G. Atkinson, in his “Sketches in Natural 
History” (p. 42), describes a nest of this species which was lined 
with the last year’s oak leaves, “regularly arranged all round and 
their points directed upwards.” Bishop Stanley also mentions one 
which was built near a garden, and surrounded, as if for effect 
alone, by a brilliant wreath of scarlet anemones. 
